Longtime Cameron University professor Dr. Aubree Walton has been appointed the Virginia Brewczynski Endowed Chair in the McMahon School of Business.
As the endowed chair for the Brewczynski program, Walton is charged with cultivating tomorrow’s business leaders by educating Cameron students to be globally oriented, technically up-to-date, customer focused, cost-efficient and effective, competitive, and culturally and environmentally sensitive.
The endowed chair was established in 1994 by the Lawton Retail Merchants Association to honor Virginia Brewczynski and to advance the teaching of leadership in business. It supports student learning by bridging the gap between theory and real-world practice, said Dr. Krystal Brue, Dean of CU’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies.
Funding for this position allows faculty to create meaningful and holistic professional and academic interactions beyond the traditional classroom setting.
“We are excited to recognize Dr. Walton as an outstanding faculty member and a highly valued member of the accounting and legal professions,” said Brue. “She has a distinguished history at Cameron of conducting relevant scholarly work, actively serving the university, community and her profession, and providing innovative and high-quality classroom instruction and student mentorship opportunities to our students.”
Walton will work with area business leaders, supporting student research efforts and providing information to the business and educational community through outreach activities, possibly including public lectures and competition. Another responsibility is incorporating research into regional business, training and teaching practices in a manner that increases student learning and improves business leader preparation and effectiveness.
Funding from the Brewcysnki Endowment will support two specific projects under Walton’s supervision.
The first is the creation of a business initiative, tentatively called “CU Lead” that will be led by a student executive board helping plan and execute a variety of leadership-themed activities throughout each academic year.
“CU Lead not only provides leadership training, it introduces real-world leadership experience to the student executive board,” Walton said. “The goal is to coordinate with business leaders in southwest Oklahoma and beyond.”
The major annual event for CU Lead will be a half-day or day-long leadership summit – possibly structured as workshops or speakers that will address emerging trends or different industries. Additional annual events could include smaller projects such as a “day of service” or a “philanthropy day.”
Walton as also agreed to coach Cameron’s ethics bowl team, giving it an opportunity to compete in the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl. A regional tournament is held in November in San Antonio, Texas, with the chance of advancing to the national tournament in the spring.
“The ethics bowl is uniquely focused on civil discourse and challenges students to strengthen their understanding of ethical theory, as applied to complex and ambiguous cases,” Walton said. “Students spend hours discussing, debating, and developing arguments to orally present at intercollegiate ethics bowl competitions.”
A certified public accountant, Walton joined the Cameron business faculty in 2002 and currently serves as a professor of business law and accounting. She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from CU and graduated with honors from the University of Oklahoma College of Law with her juris doctorate.
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